“At fifteen one is first beginning to realize that everything isn’t money and power in this world, and is casting about for joys that do not turn to dross in one’s hands.”

“When once enthusiasm has been turned into ridicule, everything is undone except money and power.”

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël book Corinne

“From the summit of power men no longer turn their eyes upward, but begin to look about them. Aspiration sees only one side of every question; possession, many.”

James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat

“Your first love has no beginning or end. Your first love is not your first love, and it is not your last. It is just love. It is one with everything.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

“One change of attitude would change everything. If everyone realized that it could be a beautiful world and said let's not do these things anymore — let's have fun.”

David Lynch (1946) American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor

“We are in the grip of the second managerial revolution, one that's very different from the first. The first was about a transfer of power. This one is about an access of freedom.”

James A. Champy (1942) American businessman

“The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.”

Robert M. Pirsig (1928–2017) American writer and philosopher

“Sometimes being a leader isn’t about winning. Sometimes it’s about doing what’s right, instead of what’s powerful.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

“The only joy in the world is to begin. It is good to be alive because living is beginning, always, every moment. When this sensation is lacking—as when one is in prison, or ill, or stupid, or when living has become a habit—one might as well be dead.”

Cesare Pavese (1908–1950) Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator

“Writing is turning one's worst moments into money.”

J. P. Donleavy (1926–2017) Novelist, playwright, essayist